


A Bear May Love a Fox

by Moon_Of_Io



Category: Longmire (TV)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Non-Consensual Voyeurism, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-02-11 13:23:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2069829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Of_Io/pseuds/Moon_Of_Io
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So, am I the only freak of nature out there who thinks Cady and Henry are MFEO?  Yes?  Only me?  Okay, then.  Must be a manifestation of my long-ago little-girl crush on Lou Diamond Phillips when I saw "Stand and Deliver" at the age of ten.</p>
<p>After drinks with friends one night, Cady stays late at the Red Pony to help Henry close shop, and things heat up when she tells him the secret she's been carrying for nearly twenty years. </p>
<p>Admittedly, the story is a little thin on plot and a little thick on silliness, but I just wanted to see these two together so badly!  It's a work in progress. :-)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tinsel and Trout

It had been another beautiful day at the Red Pony and Continual Soirée, but said soirée had broken up for the evening, and blessed silence took over the bar. Cady, who had been having a drink with a group of friends and stayed on, locked up after helping Henry deposit the last die-hard patron into a taxi. Without being asked, she grabbed the push broom from the closet and began to sweep up the night's detritus.

Henry watched her enigmatically. “Cady, you do not have to do that,” he said. “You do not work here anymore, remember? You went back to being a lawyer when you saved my life and got me out of prison.”

She smiled, but didn't stop sweeping.

“I know, Henry. I don't mind. I know you let Nick go home early so he could take care of his kids while his wife is in Corsicana, and I also know what a bitch it is to get this place clean by yourself.”

“I have done it before,” he said blandly.

“Yes, but you don't have to tonight.”

With her help, the Red Pony was closed and ready for opening the next day within an hour. She made him laugh, which was something he hadn't been used to as of late, and after they finished cleaning and straightening, he offered her a cup of decaf in the office while he went through the closing paperwork. Always so much paperwork went with owning a business.

As he added the totals from the register, Henry surreptitiously watched her from beneath half-lowered eyelids.

He didn't know when exactly he'd become aware of her as a woman; the shift had been gradual, and therefore dangerous because he hadn't noticed until it was too late. It made him sick with guilt, the dreams that would wake him in the middle of the night, reaching across the bed blindly, his body hard and throbbing with need. For her.

He supposed it was the months they'd spent working together on his trial. She'd done so much for him, and somewhere in the midst of all of it, the blinders had come off and he'd realized what a beautiful and incredible and breathtakingly desirable woman she'd grown up to be.

Henry had no illusions about the two of them; he was a crusty old Cheyenne, and she was young and vital, and in love with Branch Connally to boot. He felt a stab of envy at the thought of her holding Branch late in the night, the quiet darkness creating a cocoon of intimacy around them. Henry had not known a great deal of tenderness in his life, and although he wasn't bitter about it, being near Cady made him acutely aware of what he was missing. The knowledge twisted in his gut like barbed wire, but none of this showed on his face.

It was becoming more and more difficult to hide his longing for her, though, when she was standing right next to him, tormenting him with her sweet fragrance and soft curves. He ached to touch her. He loved her fiery hair and pale skin. Her piercing sapphire gaze always cut him to the quick, and he found he could never maintain eye contact with her for long; he might forget himself and crush her to him in a moment of insanity. Oh, but what a moment it would be, he thought.

While these thoughts were rattling the cage of Henry's mind, Cady stood next to his desk looking at the framed pictures displayed on his bookshelves. Most of them were years old, ancient memories collecting dust. One photo in particular of Walt and Cady on the fishing trip they'd taken when she was twelve.

“Oh, my god,” she said, snapping Henry out of his reverie. “I remember this trip. We caught so many trout, and Dad was pissed because you kept catching the biggest ones. When he asked how you did that, you replied -”

“O.I.T,” Henry finished for her, smiling in fondness at the memory.

“That's right!” she laughed. “I remember Dad throwing a fish at your head when you said it.”

Henry chuckled quietly at the memory, too. He stood and joined her, taking the picture off the shelf and wiping the dust from it with his handkerchief.

“So what was it?” Cady asked, clearly curious.

“What was what?” he replied, placing the photo carefully back on the shelf and shaking out the white square of fabric.

“The old Indian trick to catch the biggest trout.”

One corner of Henry's mouth quirked up into a half-smile as he opened his desk drawer and withdrew a fresh handkerchief, placing it in his pocket. Cady smiled at his fastidiousness.

“Tinsel,” he said.

“Tinsel?” she echoed. “Like, deck-the-halls, fa-la-la? That kind of tinsel?”

He nodded. “They like the sparkle.”

Cady's laughter floated like cherry blossoms on a breeze, and he couldn't help but join her. Her eyes fell once again on the photo, and her face sobered as another memory surfaced.

“I remember the next day, do you?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied, the smile fading from his face.

“We were hiking this particularly muddy path along the stream to a good fishing spot. I was running ahead, and you kept telling me to slow down, but I was a kid, you know, and I wanted to get there first.”

“I remember,” Henry said quietly. “You were a _vóhkêhéso_ , a little fox running ahead, your red hair blazing behind you like a tail. The spirit of adventure certainly had tight hold of you.”

“Not tight enough,” she said wryly. “Inevitably, I slipped. And I fell right in the water. The stream was flooded from the rains and the current was so fast I could hardly keep my head above the surface, let alone swim. I was terrified.”

“So was I.” His voice was husky as he relived the memory of watching her get swept away.

“And then, there you were,” Cady smiled. “You jumped in after me and saved me.”

“Of course,” he said simply. There was nothing else he would or could have done.

“It was still pretty cold that time of year, and the water was freezing,” she said. “You made me take all the blankets to get warm, so I sat there on a rock looking like a giant armadillo or something, while you sat there shivering.”

“You were so small,” he said. “You needed the blankets more. Plus, your dad got a fire built quickly, and our clothes dried soon enough. We were not in the water long enough to contract hypothermia, thankfully. And you learned a lesson about listening to your elders, at least for a while.”

She chuckled, then turned from the picture to gaze at him.

“That was when I fell in love with you,” she said.

Henry's eyes widened imperceptibly, then his face became unreadable. “A girl's first crush is often on a father figure,” he said dismissively, turning back to the pictures on the shelves.

“No, Henry,” she said, her voice serious, her eyes intent, “it was love.” She took a breath. “It still is.”

Henry's eyes widened for real this time, and he slowly turned his gaze to her to see the laughter in her eyes, as she was surely joking. But no mirth resided there, only an earnestness that made him ache.

“Cady-” he began.

“Henry, don't,” she cut him off. “I know what you're going to say, all the excuses, the reasons it wouldn't work, but I'm here to tell you I don't care. I love you and I don't care.”

Henry felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach, like the world was turning upside down and this great cosmic joke was being played on him by showing him how it would be to have what he wanted. But the one thing he wanted was the one thing he absolutely could not have, and he cursed the spirits who did this to him, miserably wondering why the most treacherous traps had the most tempting bait.

“Cady, please tell me you are not serious,” he said carefully.

She moved to stand nearer him, and he slowly backed away until the desk stopped him. Panic made his pulse pound in his ears and he struggled the keep his breathing even as he fought the urge to pull her to him and hold her close.

“I am almost twenty years your senior,” Henry said stoically. “I am your godfather. Your father is my closest friend. I cannot violate his trust.” The only outward giveaway to his emotions was his tightly clenched jaw.

“This isn't about my father, Henry, and I'm not a little girl anymore. Hell, I'm almost thirty years old! I'm old enough to make my own decisions, and I've finally decided to tell you how I feel about you.”

“What about Branch Connally?” he hedged, casting about for another reason to resist her.

That gave her pause, and a gentle regret entered her eyes. She sighed. “I admit, I used Branch,” she said. “I thought maybe he would be the one, you know? The one who could make me forget.” Her longing gaze settled on Henry. “But he couldn't, Henry. My god, if Branch couldn't make me forget you, no one can.”

A knife twisted in his heart. Desperately, he tried a lie.

“And what if I do not want you?” he asked quietly.

To his everlasting surprise, she chuckled. “Not a chance,” she murmured, politely invading his space, pressing her body close and brushing her cheek across his. His heart stopped and his breathing deepened as her fragrance invaded his senses. Unable to control it, he felt his body respond to her, his sex stirring and thickening in his jeans.

Cady was fresh and kind and beautiful, and she deserved better than a crotchety old Indian like him. He couldn't take her up on what she was offering, even though he wanted it so badly he was almost shaking with it.

“Cady,” he said. “Please stop this. I do not-”

She silenced him with her mouth. He stiffened, prepared to pull away, but the sweet softness of her lips undid him. He groaned, his arms suddenly around her, gathering her close and holding her tightly against him. He slanted his head and opened her mouth with his, invading her with his tongue, and she gave a delighted moan.

No, Henry thought. I cannot do this.

He pushed her away, being a bit rougher than he'd intended, but setting her apart from him was the first priority. Separating from her in that moment was the hardest, most painful thing he'd ever done.

“No, Cady,” he said, his heart thumping heavily in his chest. “This is not appropriate.”

“Goddamn it, Henry, would you stop it and just let yourself have what you want?”

“I do not want y-”

“Don't even think about lying to me,” she said, her eyes sparkling with anger. “I've watched you for twenty years, Henry. You think I don't know what you're thinking at every moment? You're an open book to me. You try to keep this whole 'stoic Indian man' persona going, but I see right through you. Something's changed lately, I know it. You want me. So take me,” she dared him.

Her challenge hung between them, swinging like a pendulum, and heavy tension filled the air.

His nostrils flared, and something in him snapped. Abruptly, he closed the distance between them, then grasped her waist in his hands and pulled her against him. One of his hands reached up and tangled in her hair, tilting her head back so he could look into her surprised eyes. Without another word, he took her mouth with his in deep, possessive kisses that made them both groan. Oh, god, she felt so good. He pulled on her hair gently, tilting her head back further to expose her neck for the onslaught of his tongue and teeth. She tasted of fresh strawberries, Henry thought, and feverishly wondered if she tasted of strawberries and cream between her legs.

Her hands were busy, frantically unfastening the buttons on his shirt, popping one or two off in the process. She pulled it from the waistband of his jeans and pushed it off him, then pulled him close, pressing her breasts up against his warm, bare chest. He groaned, then broke his kisses long enough to jerk her shirt up over her head. Her bra encased the sweetest breasts he had ever seen, and he gave a low growl. He found her mouth again, then lifted her and wrapped her legs around his waist and carried her to the dark leather sofa on the other side of his office.

He deposited her there, and she bounced up, grabbing hold of his belt and pulling him down onto the sofa next to her. Her mouth found his again, and she threw a leg over his lap, effectively straddling him, her hips moving in sensual circles against his very hard shaft.

Lost in her, in the moment, he reached up and roughly pulled down her lacy bra cups and exposed her lush, pale breasts with pretty pink nipples. With a hungry sound, his mouth descended on one while the other he kneaded with a rough hand. She moaned and arched to him, clasping his head in her arms, holding him close to her heart.

His mouth left her breasts and traced back up to her neck, where he gently but ardently sank his teeth into the tender skin there. She gave a cry of pleasure, her hands wandering restlessly over his bare back. He groaned when her hips moved against him, and she backed off, sliding down his body until she was on her knees between his legs. She stared into his eyes as she reached behind her and unhooked her bra, then let the straps fall down her arms. She cast aside the undergarment, then reached for his belt.

His breathing deepened as he felt her fingers brush him through the thick fabric of his jeans, and suddenly, the thought that this was wrong, that he was taking advantage of her intruded once again, and he covered her hands with his.

“Cady, we should stop,” he said, his voice husky from desire.

Her eyes flashed, and she pushed his hands away, tugging his zipper down.

“Enough,” she said. “Enough objections. You've met your quota. You may want to torture yourself for a while longer out of some twisted idea that you don't deserve happiness, but I'm through with that. I've loved you for years, Henry Standing Bear, and I'm not giving you up anymore. You're mine now.”

She reached down the front of his pants and found him, hard and pulsing, and her eyes widened at the size of him. With two hands, she stroked him, and all ideas of resisting her fled. He was a man, not a saint. She was beautiful and honest and loving, and he watched helplessly as she opened her mouth and took him in.

But it had been too long for him, and the hot, wet silk of her mouth was too much to bear. He could not last long for her with her tongue dancing along his shaft like that, teasing and caressing. When she started sucking, he was able to endure it for about a minute before he gently took her head in his hands and pulled her up and off him, raising her lips to his for a gratified kiss.

He pulled her down onto the sofa then, laying her across the supple leather and running his hand over her lovely breasts. She arched up to him, wordlessly asking him to touch her. His hand slid down her leg and found the zipper to her boot. First one, then the other fell to the floor with a soft thump before he reached for the fastening to her jeans. Shucking them down and off, Henry tossed them to the wayside, her panties shortly following.

He stared down at Cady's loveliness, unable to believe she was here, naked for him. She lay with her knees pulled up to her chest, revealing the curved underside of her bottom and just a hint of her womanhood. He could see the wetness between her legs, smell her arousal. With a savage sound, he bent down and ran his tongue over the slit, pushing her thighs into her belly and her feet into the air as he did so. She gasped, thrilled to her toes, then parted her legs to give him better access. His eyes were closed in delight at her taste, and then he opened them, wanting to watch her face while he pleasured her.

Cady discovered that Henry's tongue was capable of amazing things, and she shuddered as she felt her orgasm building quickly. Carefully, he inserted two fingers inside her and pressed up, stroking a bundle of nerves she didn't know she had, and she convulsed, completely taken by surprise and unable to control her reaction. Her cries of pleasure fell on Henry's ears like a benediction.

When she came back down to earth, Henry's tongue was still on her, gently licking up the length of her. She sighed, burying one hand in his silky hair while he laced his fingers with her free hand. Soon, the pressure began to build again, and Cady's breathing deepened and grew uneven. When she was arching against him, begging him to let her come, he lifted his head from between her legs and slid up her body. He settled his weight on her, kissing her again and again. She tasted herself on him and arched her hips, trying to force his penetration.

“Patience, _vóhkêhéso_ _,_ ” he muttered thickly in her ear. “Do not worry. I will not deny you.”

She calmed down somewhat, placated by his words. She soon grew impatient again, though, as he kissed her, but then instead of taking her, bent his head to her breasts. Slowly, his tongue circled each nipple before he drew one in, sucking strongly and making her cry out into the dim space.

“Henry,” she pleaded, “please.”

“What is it you want, Cady?” he asked, his tone raw.

“I want you inside me,” she replied, reaching for his straining cock. He decided to let her have her way this time, eager to feel the tight clasp of her around him. He let her take him in her hand and guide him to the entrance to her body. Her heat washed over him, and he closed his eyes for a moment, suspended in time. When he opened them, he cupped her face and tilted her gaze up to his. Their eyes met and held, and he thrust his hips forward, penetrating her deeply.

The cry she gave was guttural and primal, and she stiffened, her head thrown back in ecstasy. His head fell forward, his face buried in her neck. In all his life, he'd never felt anything as heavenly as being inside Cady Longmire. He began moving in her, slowly at first because she was very tight, but she was also very wet from his previous attentions, and she soon began moving under him, asking without words for more.

“You want it harder?” he muttered in her ear.

“God, yes, Henry, fuck me harder,” she urged.

He capitulated, unable to resist the siren call of his own climax. His hips moved faster, and she grabbed his ass, trying to entice him even further. He reared up then, taking her hips in his hands and holding them steady, then began hammering at her. Her breasts bounced in rhythm to his thrusts and her hands clutched his arms to anchor herself.

She gave another of those primordial cries, and within moments, her body heaved, her climax crashing through her like a breakneck wave. Henry gave a shout of pleasure, the sweet contractions of her nethers around his shaft exciting him beyond measure. His rhythm was shot to hell, and he threw his head back and groaned. The sharp tingle at the base of his spine signaled imminent orgasm, and Henry couldn't control it, didn't want to, as his awareness splintered around him. All he knew was Cady and the magic they had made between them.

Slowly, as the spasms faded, Henry collapsed heavily onto Cady. He had just had the most intense climax of his adult life, and he was completely drained from it.

Cady cradled him tenderly with her soft body, closing her thighs around his hips, stroking his hair and his back. This was where she'd wanted to be since she was an adolescent, and her heart sang with joy. She'd known back then that he would never accept her advances, citing the very reasons he gave her tonight. But a deep and abiding love for Henry Standing Bear resided in her soul, and not even almost twenty years and other men had made it fade. She knew he would continue resist her, even after tonight, but she was swinging through his carefully erected barriers like a wrecking ball, and she was fiercely confident that she would succeed in breaking them down.

She had watched from afar as Deena had enticed and enchanted Henry. Her heart had cried when they seemed to be getting closer and closer, and it was only a matter of time before Deena moved in, or worse, they were married. When Henry had told her and Walt about Deena's unforgivable betrayal, she'd had to physically stop herself from taking her shotgun and hunting the bitch down.

Her arms and legs tightened around Henry and he grunted softly, sinking further into her embrace. No one would ever hurt him again, as long as she was around.


	2. What Have We Here?

Jacob Nighthorse watched his computer monitor avidly, a feral gleam of victory in his eyes. The hidden cameras he'd had Darius install in Henry Standing Bear's office were paying in full right now. He watched from several different angles as sanctimonious, moralistic Henry was able to resist little Cady Longmire for about ten seconds before he was on her, screwing her so hard she'd likely have bruises in the morning.

Smirking, he saved the files and tucked them away in a folder on a flash drive, then deposited the drive in his desk safe, locking it securely. There would definitely come a time when this particular bit of information would come in very handy. He turned back to the screen in front of him. Henry lay heavily on Cady between her spread legs, his ass in the air, his jeans around his ankles. Cady's face wore an ethereal smile of satisfaction, and her hand stroked Henry's back in leisurely circles. Inexplicably, Jacob felt a hot prickle of jealousy, and an image of himself lying in Cady's arms instead of Henry flashed through his mind.

He shook his head to clear it of such nonsense, and quickly turned off the monitor, aware that he must look like a voyeuristic pervert. Yes, he was aware of Cady's soft skin and autumn-leaf hair, and had on more than one occasion imagined her mouth doing certain things to him, but watching her with Henry was purely...strategical. He now had powerful information which he would use to his advantage, given the opportunity. Nothing more than that.

On his way out, he called Neena Wapasha.

“Hello, my dear,” he said. “Do you still have that red wig?”


	3. Yogi Standing Bear

Henry's breathing had returned to normal, but he hadn't moved from Cady's warm embrace, too comfortable and sated to do so. He knew reality would intrude momentarily, but for now, the closeness of her body and the silence of the night kept it at bay. He couldn't remember when he'd surrendered so completely to passion, always before priding himself on his self-control. But something in Cady had shattered that, and Henry didn't know what to do about it.

Slowly, he raised his head and looked down at her.

Her sloe eyes were slumberous when she opened them to meet his gaze, and a small, mysterious smile played across her lips. Wordlessly, he bent his head and kissed her tenderly, reveling in the soft moon-petal silk of her lips and tongue. For tonight, at least, he was through resisting her. For tonight, she was his.

“Henry?” Walt's voice came from the bar, and Henry and Cady stared at each other in disbelief for a split second before both reacted immediately and swiftly. Henry moved off her, and she stifled a groan as his thick shaft withdrew from her swollen channel. Cady picked up as many of her clothes as she could find and bolted for the adjoining bathroom to Henry's office, and Henry pulled up his pants. As he did so, he noticed a wet spot on the couch where their bodies had been joined. Quickly, he pulled out his handkerchief, thanking any and all spirits that he had placed a clean one in his pocket, and wiped away the evidence of their lust, then stuffed it back in his jeans.

“Henry, are you here?” Walt's voice was closer, and Henry found his shirt, hurriedly donning it and buttoning a few buttons, then seating himself at the chair behind his desk.

“Walt, is that you?” he called, putting his glasses on his face and picking up a pen, pretending to read some sort of report.

“Henry.” Walt stood in the doorway and took in the scene. Something was not quite right here, but nothing seemed out of place.

“Walt, it is very late,” he said. “What is the matter?”

“I've just come from a cattle rustling stakeout. You haven't heard from Branch, have you?”

Walt's lanky frame seemed to take up more than its fair share in Henry's office. Maintaining his façade of calm, he replied, “Why would your deputy contact me?”

The sheriff walked in and sat down on the sofa on which Henry had just lain naked with Walt's daughter. Henry's heart rate shot sky high, but years of practicing stoicism were paying in full right now. Out of the corner of his eye, Henry noticed the pale pink and white of Cady's bra behind a leg of the leather sofa. Quickly, he moved his eyes away and planted them back on Walt, praying that his oldest friend didn't notice the scrap of lace.

“He wouldn't, necessarily,” Walt was saying. “But I haven't heard from him for several days. Last time he disappeared like this...well, you remember what happened.”

“Do you wish me to track him?”

“Not yet,” Walt said. “But I'd appreciate it if you'd be on standby.”

“Of course, Walt.”

When Walt made no move to leave, Henry said, “Was there anything else?”

Walt exhaled deeply. “I'm a little worried about Cady,” he said.

Henry stopped breathing for a moment, then carefully exhaled. He was painfully aware of Cady's presence in the bathroom adjacent.

“What is the matter?” he asked in practiced casualness.

“I'm not sure,” Walt said. “Could you just keep an eye on her?”

“She is an adult, Walter,” Henry said mildly. He knew intimately now just how grown-up she was.

“I know that,” Walt admitted. “I just...haven't been there enough for her. I should know what's going on in her life.”

No, Henry thought. You really shouldn't. Not right this very moment.

“You could always ask her,” Henry replied. “She does love you very much.”

Walt nodded. “Just let me know what you see.”

“I cannot guarantee I will be able to report anything, but I will watch over her.”

Walt seemed to be satisfied with that and nodded. Regarding Henry, thoughtfully, he said, “Henry, can I ask why your shirt looks like you let a blind three-year-old button it?”

Slowly, Henry looked down and noticed that his shirt was indeed hopelessly twisted. He sighed. “Well, Walt,” he said. “I did not want to tell you this just yet because I was not sure how you would react, but I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you.”

“What's going on, Henry?” Walt asked, his tone very serious.

“Well,” Henry started. “When you came in tonight, I was...” he paused.

“You were what?”

Henry let out a slow breath.

“I was doing yoga.”

Walt stared him, his face expressionless. “Yoga.”

Henry nodded. “I often do after I close the bar. It helps me relax from the noise and...center my focus.”

Still no change of expression from Walt. “Yoga,” he repeated.

“I like to practice without my shirt on. When you came in tonight, I was in the middle of a downward dog. I did not think you would understand, so I buttoned the shirt rather hastily and missed a few in the process.”

Walt was silent for a moment, then said. “You practice yoga in your office late at night. Shirtless. But wearing your jeans.”

Goddamn it, Walt.

“The constriction of the fabric helps to...strengthen my core,” he invented masterfully. He was turning into a consummate liar, and Henry didn't like the feeling at all.

Walt's scrutiny was like a spotlight from a prison tower. After a full minute that seemed to Henry to be an eternity, Walt's eyes brightened and he let out a low chuckle.

“Henry, damn if you don't surprise me even after almost forty years of friendship.” He rose and made his way to the office door. “That would also explain why your hair looks like you've been standing on your head – it's because you have.” Walt snorted. “All right, Henry, I'll leave you to your, uh, down boys.”

“Downward dog,” Henry corrected him.

“Sure,” Walt conceded. “Just remember to keep an eye on Cady for me.”

“Good night, Walt,” Henry said.

Only when he heard Walt's truck cough to life and make its way down the road did Henry breathe a long, deep sigh of relief.

He rose and knocked on the bathroom door. “All right, Cady. Your father is gone.”

Slowly, the bathroom door opened. Cady emerged from the tiny cubicle, dressed and refreshed. She looked beautiful, and Henry's chest swelled at the memory of what had just passed between them. She smiled at him, and relief that there was no regret in her eyes swept through Henry, followed by intense guilt for what he had allowed to happen.

“I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I heard his voice,” she said, her eyes dancing with mirth.

“I think I actually might have had one,” Henry said wryly. “It was a close call.” He took a breath, steeling himself for what he had to say. “I was also a reminder that what we just did was-”

“Don't you dare say what we just did was wrong,” she interrupted flatly. “You felt it, too. The rightness of it. When we came together it was like a puzzle completing itself.”

Henry swallowed, unable to deny that that was exactly how it had felt to him.

“That may be, but our first instinct was to hide it from your father,” he said.

“Well, of course we did! It's embarrassing to have your dad walk in on you naked with-”

“His best friend,” he finished for her quietly.

She had no answer for that.

“Cady, I just lied to my best friend, an honest and good man who loves you more than his own life. That is not something I wish to do ever again.”

“So what do we do?” she asked, a little deflated.

It nearly killed him to say, “We pretend it did not happen.”

“Like hell,” she said.

“Cady-” he began.

“It very definitely did happen, Henry. I know, now. Before, for years, I had only ever imagined, but now I know. I know that you taste fresh and crisp, like a tart apple. I know that your hands are even stronger than they look, and I know how they feel against my skin. I know what it is to have you inside me, stretching me and filling me in a way that made me realize how incomplete I'd been before. I know the sound you make when you come, and the vulnerable way you lie in my arms after you do. And I know the way your eyes heat up when they look at me, like they're looking at me now. It happened, Henry, and you're fooling yourself if you think it's not going to happen again.”

He watched her unblinkingly while she spoke, his teeth clenched, his breathing uneven as he relived their lovemaking with her. After a tense moment, he spoke.

“One should never sleep with a lawyer,” he avowed drily.

The corners of her mouth turned up in a wide grin. “That's right, Henry. We always win.”

“Do you keep closing arguments like that in your back pocket?”

“Always,” she said without hesitation.

He sighed, then took a first shaky step toward giving in.

“Will you promise me we can keep this a secret until I find a way to tell your father? Preferably when he is unarmed.”

She watched him for a moment, then yielded, knowing she had won this round. Telling people could wait for a while, though she wanted to shout it from the rooftop of the courthouse downtown.

“All right, Henry. I promise.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, and she did too.

“By the way,” Henry said, “your brassiere is under the couch.”

“Oh, god, did he see it?”

“I do not think so.”

“Could he sense anything?”

“I believe he sensed something, but could not put his finger on it.”

Cady laughed then, noticing his haphazardly-buttoned shirt.

“Did he notice this?” she said, coming forward and deftly unbuttoning his shirt to straighten it.

Henry was not about to tell her the yoga story. Not yet. “Yes, but he probably thought I was doing something Indian with no shirt on when he came in,” he said vaguely. It wasn't exactly a lie. About the lie.

Anyway, her nearness was undoing him again.

As if she heard his thoughts, she slid her hands under his open shirt and caressed his chest, her thumbs lightly stroking over his flat nipples. His breath caught at the gentle stimulation.

“Your skin is like caramel,” she said, then tilted her head up and planted a tender kiss on his jaw. He bent his head and took her mouth, loving her softness, gathering her close. He could feel the beating of her heart against his, and something in him eased as her arms twined around him. He couldn't let himself feel joy, not yet, but a certain lightness came over him, and he suddenly felt like he could fly if someone asked it of him.

But all Cady asked was, “Can you do it again?” Her hand caressed the bulge in the front of his jeans and he groaned into her mouth.

In answer, Henry cleared his desk in one swoop of his arms, knocking everything noisily to the floor. He lifted her onto the dark mahogany and pushed her down onto her back, then came between her open legs. Shrugging out of his shirt for the second time that night, he said, “I have wanted to conduct a particular scientific experiment with you for quite some time.”

“Oh?” she asked, suddenly breathless.

Her boots thunked as they hit the floor again. Henry unzipped her jeans and pulled them down and off while she wriggled happily out of her top. Just as before, he stood over her and stared, taking in her nude body, her smile, her openness. Slowly, he reached down and covered her sex with his hand, his thumb gently probing her wet heat.

“Hypothesis:” He stated. His thumb found the smooth nub of her clitoris, and in so doing wrung a gasp from Cady. “I can bring you to climax at least five times before sunrise.”

The actual number, as it turned out under his expert ministrations, was eight.

 


	4. Fiercely

This particular continuing soiree at the Red Pony occurred during a dreary, rainy night. Apparently everybody in the county had had the same idea, and that was to come join the party at Henry's bar. Victoria Moretti was there with a group of women Henry wasn't even aware she knew. Lucian Connally sat with his cronies around their usual table, regaling each other with old war stories and long-ago conquests. He kept up with the drunken orders of shots and beer and the odd apple-choco-ridiculous-tini with a smooth aplomb, Nick working alongside him. There was, however, a certain irritation in his movements, noticeable only to those who knew him well.

He hadn't seen Cady in almost a week, and it was driving him insane. In the month since their affair had begun, he'd been used to frequent loving attention to certain parts of his anatomy, and that was part of his frustration, but the truth was, he just plain missed her. She calmed the savage parts of him that had always left him feeling unsettled, and she made him laugh with her ability to see the levity in so much of life. He had kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for her to realize her mistake or grow bored with him, but it hadn't happened.

He hoped. She'd been in Albuquerque visiting an old friend for the last five days, and at first he'd heard from her two or three times a day via a quick text or phone call. The last communication he'd gotten from her, though, was a single-word text last Friday. It was Sunday night now, and she was due back in the morning. It had taken all his self-control not to badger Walt about the status of his daughter's travel plans, or do something called Facebook stalking. Henry was not sure what that was, but he felt fairly certain he was capable of it.

Instead, though, he did nothing, and a small, burning bloom of panic rooted in his belly.

He didn't notice the sleek, sensuous brunette sidle up to the bar until she'd been there for some time. There was a lull, and he heard her voice.

“Hello, Henry, baby.”

Henry's blood turned to ice in his veins.

“Deena,” he said curtly as he removed two used glasses from the bar and placed them in the sink. He made no move to look at her. “You are not welcome in this establishment.”

“Oh, c'mon, Henry,” she pouted. “I just want a drink.”

“You can drink in another bar. Perhaps in another county.” He quickly washed and rinsed the glasses, then took the bar rag from his shoulder and began to dry each one thoroughly.

“Look, Henry, I know things ended badly between us - “

“You stole from me and betrayed my trust, Deena,” he interrupted. His eyes snapped to her face, unnerving her in their ferocity. “That is not just ending badly. That is total annihilation of anything I ever felt for you.”

“Henry, baby, can't you see your way to forgiving me?” Deena wheedled, leaning low on the bar and showing him a good view of her cleavage. Henry wondered how he had ever been attracted to her trashy style, and shook his head as he realized he hadn't known he deserved better.

“Deena, you stole forty thousand dollars from me,” he said calmly. “I do not have to forgive anything.”

“Why don't we work out a deal, huh? I'll work it off, a little at a time.”

“I do not need a whore, Deena. I need my money.”

She reacted as if he'd slapped her. “I don't have it, okay? And I'm in trouble again-”

Her sentence was cut off as her hair was grabbed from behind, and she was thrown into a table.

Nobody had seen Cady coming. She'd entered the Red Pony, seen Deena draped over the bar talking to Henry, and veered over to her like a bulldozer on nitrous oxide. Just as Deena was beginning to whine, Cady took hold of her stupid ponytail and pulled her roughly away from the bar. Deena crashed into a very surprised couple's table, but caught her balance like a cat and turned to face her attacker. The patrons all stopped what they were doing and stared, and someone said, “Chick fight!” and a great deal of yelling began.

Cady, fueled by rage, slapped Deena so hard across the face the woman's head snapped back and she saw stars.

“How dare you talk to Henry!” Cady growled. “How dare you even breathe the same air! You don't get to hurt him again, do you hear me? You don't even get to come near him!”

Henry leaped over the bar in a graceful move, and at the same time Vic made a beeline for the fracas. Just as an enraged Deena screeched and went for Cady, Vic caught her behind the arms. Henry got to Cady just in time. The whole altercation took less than a minute, but each woman fought against her captor furiously.

“Aw, let the girls have their fun,” Lucian said from his table of drinking buddies. They each had broad grins on their faces, and were watching avidly.

“Who the fuck do you think you are, bitch?” Deena spat, an angry welt forming on her cheek. “Walt Longmire's precious daughter. The hell do you care?” She fought to get loose of the sheriff's deputy holding her. Vic tightened her grip forcefully and told her to calm down.

“Who the fuck am I?” Cady echoed. “Who the fuck am _I_? I'm Henry Standing Bear's woman, you thieving, conniving, deceitful-”

“Cady,” Henry said quietly, trying to calm her.

“-poisonous-”

“Cady,” he said more firmly.

“-snake!” she finished.

“Cady, that is enough,” Henry said, and pulled her away from the bar, marching her into the office. Once inside, she wrenched free from him and stood with her back to him, shaking from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. “You stay in here until you calm down,” he said, then shut her in.

Back at the bar, Deena was shrieking her fury to the rafters.

“I'm pressing charges!” she flung at Henry when she saw him. “That bitch is going to jail for this!”

“You didn't go to jail for stealing forty thousand dollars, Deena. Think about it.”

“You don't have proof of anything, Henry!” she insisted, but she lacked conviction.

“Let it lie,” Henry said. “Your last favor to me.”

Her breathing slowed a bit and a certain gleam lit her eyes. “The debt?”

“Forgiven,” he said without hesitation.

She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. Henry nodded to Vic, who released Deena warily. Deena grabbed her purse and started out of the bar. She paused before she passed him.

“Goodbye, Henry,” she whispered, and he could see regret in her eyes.

He had none in his. “Goodbye, Deena. We will not be seeing each other again.”

An uneasy silence filled the bar once she was gone, then someone coughed and someone else said, “Like sands through the hourglass...” and everybody laughed. Slowly, the regular bar noise returned, and Henry turned to Vic.

“Thank you,” he said. “I do not know how I would have handled that.”

Vic regarded him thoughtfully. “Are you and Cady really...”

Henry nodded slowly, unable to meet her gaze.

“How long has this been going on?” she asked, agog.

Henry sighed. “Not long,” he said. “According to Cady, though, a number of years.”

“Does Walt know?”

Henry shook his head, still avoiding her eyes.

“He will soon. You need to tell him right now before someone else does.”

“That has occurred to me,” he admitted.

“And Branch probably already knows,” she added. “Lucian doesn't have Walt's aversion to cell phones. I've seen him type a text faster than a teenaged girl hopped up on Red Bull.”

“I am not afraid of Branch Connally,” Henry stated simply.

Vic regarded him gravely, then asked one more question.

“Henry, does she make you happy?”

At that, Henry looked up into Vic's striking gaze. His voice was matter-of-fact, but Vic could see the emotion behind his eyes. “So much it hurts.”

She smiled, then. “You know, a lot of younger women go for older guys,” she said, trying to sound offhand and failing miserably. Henry's heart squeezed for her. It was obvious to everyone how she felt about Walt.

“I had better go and check on Cady,” Henry said, hurt by the pain and hope in Vic's eyes. “Your drinks are on the house.” Vic nodded and went back to her table then, and Henry made his way to the office, firmly shutting and locking the door behind him.

Cady looked up as he came in. She was lying on the leather sofa, and Henry was strongly reminded of the first time they'd made love. His heart swelled as he looked at her in amazement and relief. She was here, with him.

“Welcome home,” he said quietly.

She had the good grace to look shamefaced.

“May I inquire as to what has gotten into you?” he asked gently.

“I don't know what came over me,” she admitted, sitting up. “I just came in and saw her standing there, with the... _audacity_ to talk to you, and I literally saw red. I wanted to kill her.”

“I am very glad that you did not,” Henry said mildly, seating himself next to her. “I cannot make love to you if you are in prison.”

She laughed, then climbed into his lap and straddled his hips. His hands clasped her waist, and she leaned down to kiss him deeply. In that one moment, all the fear and irritability that had consumed him the past few days was snuffed out like a candle by the touch of her lips. He held her close, so happy to have her in his arms again he could barely see straight.

The previous scene in the bar needed addressing, though, and after his initial hunger for her was somewhat sated, he gently and very regretfully pulled away from her lips.

“We are going to have to do some damage control. Your announcement of being 'my woman' was heard by everyone, including Lucian Connally. It is only a matter of time before your father hears of it.”

“I don't care, Henry. I've never cared. You were the one who put the kibosh on telling people. I'm sorry I broke my promise, though.”

Henry dismissed it. “It was in the heat of the moment,” he said. Then the corners of his mouth turned up slightly in a small smile. “You should know that my heart swelled with pride when you said it.”

“You're proud of us?” she asked. “I thought you were ashamed of us.”

His eyes grew wide, and he reached up to cup her face. “Not ashamed,  _ vóhkêhéso _ . Never ashamed. I could never be shamed by a fierce, beautiful woman loving me.”

She blushed at his declaration.

“I have to admit, I was somewhat unsettled when I stopped hearing from you over the weekend.” His tone was only a little reproachful.

She groaned, her face one of contrition.

“I'm sorry, Henry,” she said. “My phone got thrown into a pool by a disgruntled five-year-old on Friday, and I haven't had the chance to get a new one. Nikki's daughter's birthday party got way out of control. Anyway, that's one of the reasons I came home early. I haven't even been home yet.”

“One of the reasons?” he asked, his hands wandering a little more southerly.

Cady's answering smile made his scalp tingle. Her hips moved against him in a very suggestive manner.

His pulse quickened, and he felt his shaft stir and begin to thicken.

She was wearing a lovely dark jersey knit dress that rode up her thighs enticingly, and Henry's eyes raked over her form. She shivered at the expression of hunger on his face, her nipples peaking under her bra, and his hands slid under the hem and up her bare thighs to cup her bottom. He discovered she wore only a thin scrap of lace for underwear, and a dark sound tore from his throat.

“I have to go back out to the bar,” he said. “Nick cannot be the only bartender on a night like this.”

Her response was to set her open mouth on his and delicately suck his tongue. He groaned in surrender, then delved his fingers under her panties and found her soft, tight opening. She gasped and reached for his belt, unbuckling, unbuttoning and unzipping him in record time. She found his cock, hard and straining, and he pulled her underwear to the side to make room for him while she guided it to her entrance. He stabbed up into her, rocking her on his hard dick, unable to believe that the woman who made him feel so alive, so wicked, was Cady Longmire.

“Oh, _Henry_ ,” she breathed.

“Does that feel good?” he asked lowly, taking her hips in his hands and working her up and down on his shaft.

“Oh, god, yes,” she said, her back arching. Henry reached up and pulled the top of her dress down and off her arms, revealing her bra. Just like he'd done the first time, he pulled down the cups to expose her breasts, and driven by some primeval impulse, buried his face in them. She smelled so good, felt so good, tasted so good.

A hard pounding came at the door, making them both jump. They froze.

“Hey, Henry, I really need you out here!” Nick's voice floated through the thick wooden door.

“I will be out momentarily,” he called, then muttered, “At least this time I had the good foresight to lock the door.” He looked at Cady apologetically. “I am sorry, my darling, but I must leave you.”  
“Henry!” she wailed, clenching her inner muscles around his cock and making him groan. “You can't leave me like this!”

“Nick needs me,” he said.

“ _I_ need you!” she insisted, pulling his mouth up to hers and moving her hips again. He moaned into her mouth, then came to a decision. He wrenched away from her lips and grasped the back of her neck. 

Looking deep into her eyes, he asked lowly, “Can you take me hard and fast?”

She trembled and nodded eagerly, her eyes wide.

He slid down to the floor, taking her with him, then lifted her off him and placed her on her knees next to him, bending her over the sofa. Roughly, he rucked up her skirt to reveal her heart-stopping bottom, then jerked down her panties and brought the head of his penis to her entrance. She shivered in anticipation, and Henry pulled her up so her back was against his chest, her head resting back on his shoulder.

“Are you ready?” he asked her, one hand kneading a breast, then other covering the soft flesh between her legs.

She made a small sound, her breath uneven and strained.

“Yes,” she panted.

Without another word, he thrust forward forcefully, impaling himself in her tight heat. She cried out loudly, and Henry was deeply thankful for the noise of the bar patrons on the other side of the door. Pushing her back down, he gripped her hips and pounded her mercilessly with his hard shaft. Her entire body was quivering, her back arching, and she was biting her fist to keep from crying out. Henry reached down in front of her and found her clitoris, pinching it up and rubbing it firmly, and she bucked against him. She was so close, so close, he could feel it, and with an instinct he'd never acted on before, he iniquitously circled his thumb around the tight, puckered opening of her bottom, then eased it inside.

Her orgasm was instantaneous and powerful, and her excitement coupled with her strong pulsing around his cock sent him over the edge. He shook and bucked over her, his seed bursting from him in hot spurts deep within her.

He could barely get air into his lungs normally before he kissed her shoulder, then pulled out and got shakily to his feet.

“You are dangerous,” he said breathlessly, running a hand over her back. She gave a soft sigh of pleasure at his touch. Reluctantly, he got his clothes back in order, and she climbed onto the couch, flopping onto it as her legs wouldn't support her. She watched him with heavy eyes, satisfaction etched onto every part of her face. Henry leaned down and stole a kiss from her pretty mouth.

“ _Néméhotâtse_ ,” he murmured gravely, then stood and unlocked the door. With one last look at her exhausted form on the sofa, he suddenly smiled and winked, then walked back into the bar, closing the door behind him.

Cady smiled sleepily at the door after Henry. Her body was throbbing with completion.

“I love you, too,” she said to the empty room.

 


	5. Seeds of Obession

From his cold, sterile office, Jacob Nighthorse stared into his computer monitor and watched Cady lie on Henry's leather sofa for a while longer before slowly rising and making her way into his bathroom, presumably to freshen up. His jaw was aching from clenching his teeth so hard, and he was pretty certain he'd heard a crack a few minutes ago. Great. He'd probably broken a tooth.

Watching Henry and Cady before had been tactical, but in the few weeks since their affair had begun, Jacob had become somewhat admittedly obsessed with Cady Longmire. He rewound the footage and watched again as Henry fucked her from behind, rough with her in his passion. Henry had actually stuck his thumb up her ass, and Cady seemed to love it, judging from the obvious orgasm she'd had. Hate for Henry Standing Bear consumed him as he watched Henry kiss her, then tell her something before exiting back into the bar.

Jacob wanted her under him. She didn't necessarily have to be willing; in fact, he rather liked the idea of her staring up at him with wide, frightened eyes while he pressed her down and made her his. He rewound the video again. He knew of two men who would kill Henry Standing Bear if they saw this footage. Only one of them carried a cell phone with him.

Jacob smiled as he hit “send.”

 


End file.
